


Rain

by sarah_x



Series: One Word Prompts (X-Men) [1]
Category: X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 07:48:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20093806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarah_x/pseuds/sarah_x
Summary: Ororo and Jean, caught in the rain.





	Rain

Ororo has missed this. She soars high above the academy as fresh rain patters down onto her face. She shuts her eyes to it, allows herself to breathe. Up here, it is only her and the rain. 

She loves all the X-Men - her friends, her  _ family  _ \- with a heart so full of affection and admiration she feels her heart ready to burst at any moment. She loves them, but they drain her. 

After breaking up no more than three fights, only one of which was between students, she needs this time to herself. It is not easy being a leader and a mentor. 

A storm is coming. She can feel the thrum of it, the electrified air hot against her skin and whizzing through her veins, the strain of the clouds as they try to hold back the downpour. Thunder rumbles across the horizon and a crack of lightning breaks through the afternoon sky. A few children desperately trying to finish their basketball game are sent skittering inside, yelping and laughing. 

Ororo is truly alone. She smiles. 

She could stop the storm if she wanted. Make it eternal sunshine, let the children carry on their games. Or summon a snowstorm that even Bobby would have difficulty competing with. But she needs this. Needs the release of it.

She floats a little closer to earth and glides around the side of the academy, to a room near the attic. She waits there, hovering above the balcony. The light inside is on, then flicks off, then turns on again. The rain is heavy now, the sound of rushing water and howling wind drowning her ears. 

Jean appears at the patio door, sliding it open and stepping out into the rain. She stands there in a pink dressing gown with a curious expression on her face. Ororo waves her hand and the rain parts into two curtains either side of Jean’s head, as if an invisible umbrella has just popped up above her.

“Ororo…” Jean says, breathless. 

Ororo does not move. Her cape blows around her, makes her look bigger than she feels in this moment. They once thought her a goddess, but goddesses do not tremble. 

“Ororo,” Jean lets go of her grip on the nightgown. She reaches her arms towards Ororo, “You can come down now.” 

Ororo exhales, feels the tension leave her shoulders as the thunder groans on. 

She lands softly, feet resting against the balcony’s smooth floor. She’s been here before, of course. With Forge. With Logan. With T’Challa. Sometimes with Jean, but only in those melancholy dreams where she could trick herself into thinking that Jean was still alive. That they would have a lifetime of this, a lifetime of thunderstorms and rooftops. A lifetime to live together. To just  _ be _ . 

She moves closer to Jean. Ororo’s hand rests on her cheek, fingertips ghosting her fiery red hair. She waits for Jean to pull away or for her feet to be ripped out from under her, for the dream to end and reveal itself a cruel joke. To mock her for foolishly hoping she could ever be happy. 

“My friend, my love,” Ororo whispers, voice both quiet and enormous over the storm around them. The rain helps disguise her tears, “I have missed you so much.” 

Jean smiles sadly and her hand covers where Ororo’s is on her cheek. Her other hand reaches out and she lets it rest over Ororo’s heart. 

“I’ve always been with you,” Jean says, “As long as you remembered me, I was alive. I lived through all of you.” 

Ororo breaks into a sob, burying her face in her hands. Jean embraces her and the familiarity of it breaks Ororo’s heart, that touch she’d thought she’d never feel again, Jean warm against her once more. 

“It’s okay, Ororo,” Jean keeps saying, “It’s okay.” 

Lightning strikes a tree close to the school, sending it tumbling to the ground with a violent crack. Ororo composes herself, leans into the hug, wrapping her arms around Jean’s back. 

Ororo kisses Jean’s cheek, “I loved you. And I always will. You were my first true love.” 

“You were always so high above me,” Jean admits, “I didn’t want to bring you down… didn’t want to complicate your life with someone like me.”

Ororo laughs but it’s not a happy sound, “My friend… I was never any more or any less than you. All I ever wanted was to be with you.  _ You _ .” 

They fall into silence, listening to the rain, foreheads pressed against each other. Jean’s closes her eyes and says, “Ororo. We’ve missed so much of our lives.” 

“Perhaps,” Ororo adds and feels the guilt swell within her, a guilt for all the things she’s lived through and danced through and experienced, all the things Jean has missed. “But we still have our lives. And we should make the most of the time we have left, for those who can not.” 

The thunder is a kitten’s purr between them. 

Jean’s head lifts and she inches forward, lips placing a tentative kiss on Ororo’s. She’s barely there and yet Ororo falls into her, kisses her intently, as if she’ll slip away at any moment. Jean’s hand teases through her hair, wet and fuzzed with rain. Ororo exhales against her mouth. 

“It’s okay, Ororo,” Jean whispers. “It’s okay to come down. It’s okay to come down to me.” 


End file.
